Ceramic heating element placement ?

[nebby3103]

Hey there! I'm new to the forum. In fact, I just received my first BP yesterday. I'm not entirely new to snakes though. I've had a corn for some time and have been interested in reptiles since I was a little kid (I finally moved out and got one ).

Anyway, here goes: My setup is a 30 gal. critter cage (glass) with a screen top. I've covered ~2/3 with tin foil and duct tape to keep in heat and humidity. I have thermometers and whatnot throughout the tank to monitor the warm and cool sides. The cool side is heated with an UTH. Any comments of suggestions would be fantastic.

My real concern, and the title of my post (finally) is this: I'm using a 100 watt, Exo-Terra CHE to provide the hot spot. I have a thermometer probe placed under the substrate directly under the CHE and the CHE is attached to a rheostat so I can keep the temperature at ~90. I've placed the CHE directly on the screen. Is this a bad thing? Might my snake be able to hurt herself if she gets too close the thing. Thanks in advance.

[kavmon]

i recommend using a lower wattage che, unless the room is cold and you need 100 watts. i kept arboreals using 40 watt che's (that's in a heated room though). when you can, i would use a good thermostat like helix,ranco,etc to regulate that che. use a decent themometer to keep an eye on the temps like taylor,cooper,accurite. i would put the thermometer probe on top of the substrate if your heat source is overhead.


ps. welcome to the forum!

vaughn

[JLC]

Personally, I'd be nervous having the CHE resting directly on the screen. You may need to get a bigger dome to screw it into. The dome can rest on the screen, but it should hold the heat source up high enough so that it doesn't touch.

[nebby3103]

I guess I could have explained better. Sorry . The heating element itself is not in contact with the screen. I was referring to the whole heating aparatus, if you will. So there is some space between the element and screen thanks to the dome lamp it's screwed into. Maybe 1/2-3/4"...

[JLC]

In that case, I think it should be ok. You could try touching the screen yourself, just to make sure it's not getting too hot...but I think it'll be alright.